New evidence found by University of Wollongong archaeologists has narrowed the possible gap between the times when tiny hominid creatures known affectionately as hobbits died out and modern humans arrived in Southeast Asia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Significant findings published on Thursday in the Journal of Archaeological Science reveal Homo sapiens were likely using fire about 41,000 years ago in the cave where the original hobbit – or Homo floresiensis – remains were found.
Lead author Dr Mike Morley, from UOW’s Centre of Archaeological Science, said there was already evidence of stone tools at the Liang Bua archaeological site, showing hobbits survived until around 50,000 years ago on the Indonesian island of Flores.
This meant new physical evidence of fire places, used between 41,000 and 24,000 years ago, was “extremely important” in placing the two species closer together in time.
“Essentially, the gap is narrowing, between the last hobbits … and the first modern humans we see at the site,” he said. “We still have a fairly significant period of time, roughly 10,000 years.”
Dr Morley said UOW researchers, in conjunction with a team from Indonesia, were now searching for more evidence that would further close the gap or reveal an overlap between the two species’.
“There’s still a huge volume of sediment to be excavated, so we might still find hobbits hanging around later or humans who have been there earlier,” he said.
“The holy grail would be to find modern humans’ fauna remains, skeletal remains, and find those in association with archaeological remains like stone tools and fire.”
This could reveal an overlap between the two species and aid in researchers’ quest to discover how and why the hobbit disappeared.
“This is the story of the evolution of our species, where do we come from and how did we get to where we are,” Dr Morley said.
“It’s interesting to know how our ancestors moved around the landscape… and whether they may have met or interbred with other hominins during that time.”
He said it “would be wild speculation” to suggest humans may have directly led to the hobbit’s extinction without further information.
Dr Morley noted modern humans were most likely to have constructed the fire places as there was no evidence hobbits had used fire during roughly 130,000 years of presence at the site.
The research team used a technique called micromorphology to examine microscopic layers of sediment from the Liang Bua cave, shipping samples taken from the back of the cave back to the UOW campus for analysis.
The research also acts as further evidence for the dispersal of modern humans throughout Southeast Asia and Australia around 50,000 years ago.